


chicken soup and mashed potatoes

by Bellakitse



Series: 30 days of Tarlos [13]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Boys In Love, Carlos is Sick, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slice of Life, TK takes care of him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellakitse/pseuds/Bellakitse
Summary: Carlos wakes up with a pounding headache as his alarm goes off. The tickle in his throat he had the night before now feels like knives; it hurts to swallow.*When Carlos is sick, TK is there to take care of him.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: 30 days of Tarlos [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769356
Comments: 35
Kudos: 328





	chicken soup and mashed potatoes

**Author's Note:**

> 30 days of Tarlos - Day 13
> 
> Carlos' comfort foods are my own. When I was doing chemotherapy the few things I could keep down were plain chicken soup, mashed potatoes, and apple juice. 🤷♀️

Carlos wakes up with a pounding headache as his alarm goes off. The tickle in his throat he had the night before now feels like knives; it hurts to swallow. With a low, pain-filled groan, he sits up slowly, taking a deep breath when the movement turns his stomach. He aches all over, and knows that if he had the strength to go to the bathroom to get his thermometer, it would show that he has a temperature.

He reaches for his phone, pulling up his contacts. He’s lucky he has the day off and doesn’t need to call out, but he remembers that he’s supposed to get breakfast with Michelle before her shift. Shooting her a quick text, he tells her he can’t make it because he’s _dying,_ and for her to remember him fondly before he throws the phone back on the bed.

He’s a little dramatic when he’s miserable and sick. Sue him.

He sits at the edge of his bed for a few minutes working up the nerve to stand up. When he finally does, it’s on shaky legs that make him feel like Bambi learning to walk for the first time. He brushes his teeth and washes his face only to have to brush his teeth a second time when he finds himself bent over his toilet, throwing up his dinner from the night before.

Eyeing at his reflection in the mirror, he finds himself staring at his ashen complexion. It takes him longer than he would like to open the aspirin bottle in his medicine cabinet, and by the time he’s popped two pills, all he wants is his bed again.

He makes it back to his bedroom slowly; for a moment, he considers eating something to help his stomach with the pills but decides against it as just the thought of food makes his stomach turn again. Instead, he lays back down and pulls the covers up over his head.

Sleep, he thinks as he closes his eyes. All he needs is sleep.

֍֍֍

Carlos wakes up again a few hours later, this time it’s to a hand running through his hair and a familiar weight at his side. Fingers slide from his hair to his cheek, and Carlos can’t help but lean into it, seeking the comforting touch.

Opening his eyes slowly, he finds the pretty green eyes of his boyfriend looking back at him.

“Hey, sweetheart,” TK says quietly, a soft smile on his face as he caresses his cheek. “I heard you were on your death bed.”

“Michelle?” he questions, his voice rough, his throat feeling like it’s lined with sandpaper.

“Mmhmm,” TK nods. “She told me when our shift started.”

Carlos frowns as he remembers that TK does indeed have a shift. “How are you here?”

TK smiles at him again, shrugging his shoulder. “I have some pull with the Captain,” he says teasingly. “And I got Judd to cover me; it’s Grace’s birthday next month, so we swapped. I’ll cover him then.”

“And you came here?” he asks again, still confused, he watches as TK’s expression softens.

“You’re sick, baby,” he explains to him gently. “Where else would I be?”

Carlos swallows hard, this time not from his sore throat, but from the lump of emotion he feels stuck there. “Thank you, cariño.”

TK ducks his head, but it doesn’t hide the blush he always gets when Carlos calls him that. “Okay, first things first,” he says, standing up from the bed. “We need to get you into the shower; you’ll feel so much better after we’ve cleaned you up.”

Carlos agrees, his fever broke while he slept, leaving him sweaty and gross. With TK’s help, he gets out of bed and into the bathroom, luckily this time his legs don’t feel too much like rubber. He lifts his arms when TK tells him too as he helps him out of his shirt. His boxers follow, leaving him naked. He expects TK to leave the room after he’s turned on the water. Instead, he watches with widening eyes as TK removes his clothes too. When he catches him looking, TK gives him a lazy shrug.

“What?” he asks as he helps him get into the shower before stepping in behind him. “I can’t let you shower alone. What if you fall?”

TK picks up a washcloth lathering it up before he starts running it over his body. He goes over his chest and stomach, takes his time on Carlos’ shoulders and arms before bending down to wash his legs. Every touch is exquisite torture for Carlos. The smirk on TK’s face as he looks up at him from where he’s kneeling tells him that TK is entirely aware.

“Tease,” he mutters moodily as TK turns off the water.

TK laughs softly, drying himself quickly before holding out a hand for him to get out of the shower.

“Shower sex can be dangerous even when both people are at 100%,” TK tells him as he dries him off. “No way are we trying it when you’re sick. We’d break something and then have to have the crew rescue us. We would never live it down.”

“You’re still a tease,” he pouts just as TK runs the towel over his dick. “Case in point,” he says, giving TK a pointed look as he takes his time drying the area. TK just grins at him.

He helps him into a pair of soft cotton pants and shirt, leaning in to kiss his cheek when he’s done.

“I’m going to get you sick,” he warns him as TK remains close.

“I’ll risk it,” TK murmurs, kissing him again, this time under his ear. “Feeling better?”

Carlos nods, he still doesn’t feel great, but he does feel a whole lot better than he did when he first woke up.

“Enough to maybe eat something?” he asks him. He takes his hand in his as they leave the bathroom. Instead of heading back to bed, TK leads him towards his living room. “I got you chicken soup, mashed potatoes, and apple juice from that deli we like.”

Carlos stops halfway to the couch, forcing TK to do the same. His boyfriend looks at him curiously, but all Carlos can do is stare at him in amazement. “You remembered,” he says quietly, recalling a nighttime conversation they had months ago when they first started dating. He had mentioned that when he was a kid, he got bronchitis and that all he wanted to eat was chicken soup, mashed potatoes, and apple juice. Since then, it’s the only thing he craves when he isn’t feeling well.

TK brings their joined hands up to his mouth, giving the back of his hand a soft kiss. It makes Carlos’ stomach flip at the gentleness. “I remember everything you tell me, baby,” he tells him, and Carlos finds himself melting on the spot. The three words that are always on his mind when he’s with, or even thinking about TK dying to burst out.

“I love you,” he says before he can second-guess himself, his heart racing as TK’s eyes widen. “I probably could have picked a better moment to tell you that, but you switch your shift to come take care of me, you help me in the shower, you bring my favorite comfort food. You’re _here_ , and I just love you so much, I’ve wanted to tell you for the longest time. I couldn’t hold it in any longer.”

TK gives him a wide smile that turns into a soft laugh as he shakes his head. “I think this is the perfect time,” he tells him, taking his other hand, he brings them both back up to his mouth, this time kissing his knuckles. “I love you too, Carlos.”

Carlos grins, his heart roaring under his chest at the words. “I really want to kiss you, but I know I’ll get you sick.”

TK smiles again, wide and happy. “How about I get you a bowl of soup first, and then afterwards we can watch a movie while I scratch your head,” he suggests, obviously also remembering Carlos telling him that’s what his mom would do when he wasn’t feeling well.

He gives him a nod, sitting down on the couch while TK gets the food. When he comes back to him, he gives Carlos another loving smile as he passes him the bowl.

He still sick, his throat still hurts, and his body aches, but he also has TK who loves him, and he has chicken soup and mashed potatoes, so he’s already better.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://bellakitse.tumblr.com/)


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